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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-04-29 Board of Selectmen Minutes BOARD OF SELECTMEN MINUTES APRIL 29, 1996 CALL TO ORDER: John Leeman, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. ATTENDANCE: The following were present: John Leeman, Chairman;William B. Duffy, Jr.; Kevin Foley; Donald Stewart; David Torrisi; Robert J. Halpin, Town Manager; and Kevin Mahoney, Director of Finance &Administration. COMMUNICATIONS &ANNOUNCEMENTS: 350th Parade Committee -Update -Tom and Pam Burkhardt updated the Board of Selectmen as to the plans for the 350 Parade scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 2, 1996. The parade is expected to run for approximately 2 '/2 to 3 hours. The Burkhardt's discussed the logistics of the parade and the Board of Selectmen offered any assistance needed. APPOINTMENTS: Historic District Commission-Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to appoint Leslie Hopkins, 135 Academy Road, for a term to expire June 30, 1998 and Harry Aznoian, 168 Osgood Street, for a term to expire June 30, 1999 as members of the Historic District Commission; and Mary Champsi, 127 Kara Drive, for a term to expire June 30, 1997 and Patricia Hayward, 79 Campion Road, for a term to expire June 30, 1999 as alternate members of the Historic District Commission; vote approved 5-0. LICENSING COMMISSIONERS: Donald Stewart made a MOTION, seconded by Kevin Foley,to move into licensing; vote approved 5-0. Stevens Estate n, Osgood Hill -Request for One Day Liquor License for Birthday on May 3, 1996 - John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by Kevin Foley,to grant a one day All Alcoholic Beverages License to Evy Gillette, Manager, Stevens Estate @ Osgood Hill for a birthday party on May 3, 1996, from 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM; vote approved 5-0. John Leeman made a MOTION, seconded by Kevin Foley,to move out of Licensing; vote approved 5-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS: Osgood Street-Pole Petition 4 53/389 -Joint petition from Massachusetts Electric Company and New England Telephone &Telegraph Company To Place 2 Poles And Remove One Pole -The Board discussed opposition to stub poles. William Duffy made a MOTION, seconded by David Torrisi,to approve Pole Petition 453/389 on Osgood Street; vote approved 4 -1 (Donald Stewart opposed). Osgood Street-Pole Petition 4 53/390 -Joint Petition From Massachusetts Electric Company And New England Telephone &Telegraph Company To Place One Pole -William Duffy made a MOTION, seconded by David Torrisi,to approve Pole Petition 4 53/390 on Osgood Street; vote approved 5-0. Bunkerhill Street-Pole Petition 4 53/394 -Petition From Massachusetts Electric Company To Place One Pole -William Duffy made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to approve Pole Petition 4 53/394 - Bunkerhill Street; vote approved 5-0. PUBLIC COMMENT: John Leeman discussed the need for a contingency plan if Town Meeting actions cut the budget appropriations. The Town Manager and the Finance Director stated that this concern is already being looked at and that any changes to the budget, as proposed, would cause town services to be cut in all departments. Board of Selectmen Minutes April 29, 1996 Page 2 REQUEST TO USE THE OLD CENTER COMMON FOR WEDDING CEREMONY- JUNE 22, 1996: Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to grant permission to Mr. &Mrs. Peter Aziz to use the Old Center Common on Saturday, June 22, 1996, at 12:00 PM for approximately one hour for their daughter's wedding ceremony; vote approved 5-0. PROPOSED YOUTH CENTER SITE - ENVIRONMENT SITE ASSESSMENT: The site assessment report by Cygnus Group of the proposed Youth Center site on 400 Osgood Street has revealed that there has been releases of oil and/or hazardous materials on the site. The Town Manager reported that he is prepared to begin negotiations to acquire the property subject to: 1. Certification under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan that this release condition has been mitigated in accordance with the requirements of the M.C.P. 2. Obtaining all state and local approvals to use the property as a Youth Services Center. Mr. Ed Stevens of the Textile Museum requested a copy of the Cygnus Group report to compare to the report prepared by 21E, Inc., which did not reveal any releases into the soil on the site. The Town Manager stated that a copy of the report had already been provided to Mr. Harrington of the Textile Museum and Mr. Stevens is welcome to it. The Town Manager also reported that the release has not shown is ground water tests. VEHICLE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM- CONDITION OF POLICE DEPARTMENT FLEET: George Perna, Director, Division of Public Works, presented to the Board of Selectmen the Public Works Department's prioritized recommendations for the police replacement vehicles. Mr. Perna presented the Chairman with a copy of the vehicle history report for each vehicle and also read the following from his memorandum dated April 26, 1996, for the record: "The cost of not replacing these vehicles with new units is approximately$18,000 for this year,not including labor. At this time none of the$18,000 is budgeted in the Vehicle Maintenance Account, therefore, if the vehicles breakdown,they sit, as in the case of Vehicle 311,which is down because of transmission failure and is out of service." The Board discussed the need for a town wide policy to be set for the tracking of vehicle maintenance to measure the vehicle replacement needs. The tracking of vehicle maintenance will help in the budget process instead of driving the actual budget requests from the departments. The Town Manager discussed setting a fleet maintenance program which would require the replacement of vehicles, as opposed to having vehicles requested through the budget process as a capital item. The Town Manager based upon the recommendations from the Public Works department recommends replacing the following vehicles in priority order listed, as follows: 1. Cruiser 301 -Marked vehicle 2. Cruiser 303 -Marked vehicle 3. Cruiser 302 -Marked vehicle 4. Cruiser 307 -Marked vehicle The Town Manager also discussed with the Board that the Finance Committee remains firm in their recommendation to replace six vehicles. POLICE DEPARTMENT - CENTRAL DISPATCH- STREET RE-NAMING & RENUMBERING REPORT: The Town Manager discussed a report received from Chief Stanley and Board of Selectmen Minutes April 29, 1996 Page 3 Chief Dolan requesting that the Board of Selectmen revisit their vote of January 24, 1996, relative to the policy set for Street Renaming. The specific action requested by Chief Stanley and Chief Dolan is to reconsider the personnel approval for street names to only be the Division of Public Works and the E-911 Municipal Data Liaison person. This report also listed three specific actions to be taken to make necessary changes to existing numbering problems. These actions are as follows: 1. The Fire Department will review numbering during smoke detector compliance permit application at the time of sale of a residence. If the numbering is not correct,the permit will be issued with the correct house number indicated on the permit. Since this document is required at the passing of papers on the dwelling,the numbering on the permit must be consistent with other documents related to the dwelling. A list of those numbers requiring change and the corresponding correct number will be located in the Fire Department, at the permit office. 2. The Division of Public Works will send a letter to property owners of buildings with numbering problems. This letter will inform the owner of the numbering problem, and if they should sell their property,the numbering problem must be corrected at the time of sale. It will also advise them of the correct number. 3. The Division of Public Works will send a letter to real estate agents in North Andover giving them the list of known numbers out of sequence. The letter will advise them if they should have for sale any of these buildings,the numbering problem must be corrected prior to the sale of the property. Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by David Torrisi,to adopt the specific actions as stated in the memorandum to the Town Manager dated March 5, 1996, from Richard M. Stanley, Chief of Police, and William V. Dolan, Fire Chief, with respect to naming and numbering of the streets and that the Board of Selectmen amend the approving authority of street naming and numbering to be the Division of Public Works and the E 911 Municipal Data Liaison person; vote approved 5-0. FISCAL YEAR 1996 BUDGET TRANSFERS -ARTICLE 10 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: Kevin F. Mahoney, Director of Finance &Administration, presented his recommended budget transfers for Fiscal Year 1996. These recommendations are as follows: Transfer from: Transfer to: General Government-Total Personnel Services- 99,100 Public Safety-Total Personnel Service-127,573 General Government-Total Expenses-27,669 Ed-Regional Vocational School-Other Expenses- 54,080 DPW-Total Personnel Services- 46,750 Division of Public Works-Total Expenses- 68,923 Fixed Expenses-Interest on Long Term Debt- 117,359 Fixed Expenses-Debt Service-Principal-122,223 Fixed Expenses-Interest on Short Term Debt-139,859 Fixed Expenses-Bond Issue Expense- 29,858 Which totals-430,737 Fixed Expenses-Liability Insurance-28,080 Which totals-430,737 John Leeman requested a report indicating all Police Department Overtime expenditures listing names, titles and amounts received. Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to favorably recommend this article; vote approved 5-0. PERSONNEL UPDATE -APPOINTMENT -WILLIAM SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICES: Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart,to approve the appointment of William J. Scott as the Director of Community Development and Services; vote approved 5-0. UPDATE - TAX INCREMENT FINANCIAL PROPOSAL - CIRCUIT BOARD REPAIR, INC.: The Town Manager updated the Board relative to the Tax Increment Financing Proposal to Circuit Board Board of Selectmen Minutes April 29, 1996 Page 4 Repair. The Town Manager met with Mr. Ferry of Circuit Board and discussed the proposal to present to the Annual Town Meeting for approval. If the town is successful in getting Circuit Board Repair into their building prior to January 1, 1997,the Town would receive a tax increment of approximately$14,000 one year earlier than is otherwise likely to be the case. Mr. Halpin offered to share $8,000 of this amount with Circuit Board Repair through a five year TIF. Most of this amount would be granted in the first of the five years to be covered under this agreement. So far, Circuit Board Repair has not committed to North Andover. DISCUSSION OF STATE AID FIGURES - STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT: The Board discussed the report of the Strategic Planning Committee which indicated that North Andover is receiving much lower State Aid than comparable communities. The Town Manager stated that when the Cherry Sheet workbooks are distributed,the evaluation of the information submitted by the Strategic Planning Committee could be better scrutinized. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Kevin Foley made a MOTION, seconded by Donald Stewart, for the Board of Selectmen to move into Executive Session for the purposes of discussing updates of contract negotiations with the Communications Officers and the Police Association as well as ongoing litigation with the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District; vote approved 5-0. Melissa Powers, Admin. Secretary Kevin Foley